Finger cot



E. W. BEATTY Feb. 15, 1949.

FINGER COT Filed March 18, 1947 www w w mw W Patented Feb. 15,,1949

FINGER CO Elmer W. Beatty, Danville, Ill'., assignor offonehalf to Irwin W. Millard, Da'nville, Ill.

ApplicatonMarch 18, 191987,,Serialf` No. 735,417

2; Claims.

The present invention pertains to finger cots or guards. It constitutes, in general, an improvement over the earlier form of finger guard disclosed in my Patent No. 2,351,906, issued June 20, 1944.

The object of the present invention is, in general, to provide a finger cot which serves to protect not only the inner surface of the finger but also the tip, although without interfering seriously with the user's sense of touch, at least to the extent required in Operating calculating machines and other devices. Desirably, the structure is also such as to protect the back of the finger, [particularly at the first knuckle.

It is also an object to provide such a finger cot which can be made at low cost of readily procurable materials.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will Ibecome apparent as the following description proceeds, taken in connection With the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a finger cot embodying the present invention applied to a user's finger.

Fig. 2 is a face view of the cot shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a, longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring more particularly to the illustrated embodiment of the invention, a single cot exemplifying the present invention has been shown (Fig. 1) applied to the user's index finger. It will be appreciated, however, that more than one cot applied to such fingers or thumbs as required, may be used, depending upon the dictates of the particular job encountered. Moreover, even though 'a particular exemplary 'construction has been shown and described in some detail, there is no intention to thereby limit the invention to that precise construction but, on the other hand, the intention is to cover all modifications and alternative constructions falling Within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

In the instant embodiment, the finger cot includes an elongate strip of soft pliant leather IO, -arranged smooth side outermost and which may be cut from leather scraps. superimposed on the lower portion of this strip Ill is a second shorter strip or patch of resilient fabric II. A knitted fabric having resilient threads inconporated in it is suitable for the purpose. These two strips are stitched together at |2 along their side margins to form a finger-receiving tube |4 open at its lower end. The stitching is located inwardly of (cl: 'fa-21") the side edges of the leather strip to protect the stitching against abrasion and is desirably carried on down about the rounded lower end of the leather strip Ill.

The outer end portion lOa of the leather strip Ill is doubled back upon itself to form a protection for the user's finger tip. The stitching l2 is carried 111p along part of the length of this doubled back portion or tab Ina, but only for [part of the length. Thus the side edges of the upper part of the strip I ll and doubled back portion [0a are, in the region of doubling of the strip, free of each other. Since there is no side stitching in that region, nor any seam 'carried across the end of the cot, bulkiness and wadding of the material at the fingertip is prevented. There is, accordingly, a minimum of interference with the user's sense of touchor "feel for the machine when pressing a key on a calculating machine keyboard or performing other Operations.

To further enhance the freedom of the fingertip, while still protecting it, shallow notches I 5 (Fig. 2) are cut in the side edges of the strip 10 in the region of its doubling. A snug and noninterfering fit over the finger tip is thus assured.

Particularly for industrial users, it is desirable to carry the doubled back portion |0a of the leather strip to overlap the fabric strip ll as shown (see Figs. 1 and 3). This overlapping is in the region of the first knuckle of the user's finger. Any gapping between the strip II and portion lila is thus prevented even when the finger is crooked and the double thickness presents a thorough protection against barking of the knuckle. There is, nevertheless, full freedom of finger`^movement since the absence of stitching across the lower edge of the doubled back portion lila prevents any interference with fiexing or crooking of the finger.

From the foregoing it will be perceived that a cot has been provided which fits snugly and comfortably, upon the user's finger, eifectually protecting it while affording a maximum of freedom of movement and touch. A wide variety of uses are open for such finger cots, both in offices and in various industrial Operations.

I claim as my invention:

1. A finger cot comprising, in combination, an elongate strip of soft leather and a shorter strip of resilient fabric arranged in superimposed relation with the outer end portion of the leather strip projecting beyond the fabric strip, said strips being stitched together along their side edge portions to form a finger-receiving tube, such stitching being located within the margins of said leather strip, and the outer end portion of said leather strip being doubled back upon itself into proximity with the fabric strip and stitched along its margins to the underlying main portion of the leather strip but for only part of the length of the doubled back portion, the edges of the leather strip in the region of doubling being free of each other and shallowly notched.

2. A finger cot comprising, in combination, an elongate strip of soft leather and a shorter strip of resilient fabric arranged in superimposed relation with the outer end portion of the leather strip projecting beyond the fabric strip, the outer end portion of said leather strip being doubled back upon itself in overlapping relation with the upper portion of the fabric Strip, said strips and the overlapping part of the doubled back portion of the leather strip being stitched together along their side edge portions to form a finger-receiving tube open at its lower end, the doubled back portion of the leather strip being of sufiicient length that the region of fold lies substantially o utward of the upper end of said fabric strip and the side margins of the leather strip being free of each other in the region of fold.

ELMER W. BEA'I'I'Y.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,894,413 Nenning et al Jan. 17, 1933 1,896,941 Cohen Feb. 7, 1933 2,351,906 Beatty June 20, 1944 

